[Updated with Part II, Oct. 10] The Catalonian problem required farsighted political leadership. We got the opposite, and now the patients are running the asylum, says Tano Santos of Columbia University.

The “no” vote in Italy’s referendum was not unexpected, economically meaningful, or against globalization. In these regards, it was not like Brexit or Trump. Yet in all three cases, the winner succeeded in spite of overwhelming support from elites and the media for the other side.

Joseph Stiglitz: “it may be necessary to abandon the euro to save the European project.” Markus Brunnermeier: “the situation is improving. The structural reforms really worked, and made a huge difference.”

Brunnermeier, co-author of the recent book The Euro and the Battle of Ideas, participated in our November 30 event on the future of the euro (you can watch the panel here). In an interview with ProMarket, he explained why the euro crisis is largely driven by a clash between the opposing economic philosophies of France and Germany.